Food Aid Needed to Strengthen Ebola Fight in Eastern DRC’s Ituri Province

In the first 100 days after the Bundibugyo‑type Ebola outbreak was declared on 15 May, more than 5,500 cases and 2,642 deaths have been recorded in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the same time, over 500,000 residents of Ituri province are classified at IPC level 4, a stage just one notch above mortality from starvation. Humanitarian experts say that severe food insecurity undermines adherence to treatment protocols, because families struggling to feed themselves are less able to follow health protocols.

The region’s chronic conflict, displacement and deteriorating infrastructure create “terrible” road conditions that often become impassable, limiting the delivery of both medical supplies and food. The World Food Programme has been operating on the frontlines since the outbreak’s start, but poor roads, often impassable, complicate deliveries. Despite these hurdles, WFP staff report that they have managed to move supplies to remote areas, yet the scale of need far exceeds current capacity.

WFP’s country director for the DRC has urged the international community to increase financial support for food assistance as a core component of the Ebola response. The agency argues that nutrition and medical care together save lives, citing recovered patients who benefited from both treatment and supplemental food. In addition to expanding treatment centres, WFP seeks resources to scale up nutrition programmes, improve logistics and sustain the community‑based approach that links food security with disease control. The country has confronted Ebola repeatedly: this is its seventeenth outbreak in roughly fifty years since the virus was first identified.